


A Fateful Encounter

by WayWardWonderer



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alliance, Gen, Hurt, Lost - Freeform, Revenge, Survivor - Freeform, Team, War, injured, travelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-05-06 09:44:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14639241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WayWardWonderer/pseuds/WayWardWonderer
Summary: INFINITY WAR SPOILER:During Tony Stark and Nebula's journey to Earth from Titan the two encounter a single survivor while flying amongst the debris of a destroyed ship. The survivor turns out to be an ally with a score to settle against Thanos.





	A Fateful Encounter

It had taken Nebula almost an hour to coax Tony Stark into getting up and continuing the fight. Most of that hour had been spent aiding the wounded hero in merely walking over to her downed space pod. Bearing a majority of Tony's near deadweight as she wrapped her arm around his waist and helped him walk over to the only flyable craft on the entire vacated planet of Titan, the usually cold Nebula was a surprising comfort in her company alone to the stranded, frightened, injured and exhausted Avenger.

Tony was laying on his back on a long metal table secured to the wall at the rear of the small craft. Weak from blood loss and exhausted from battle Tony was uncharacteristically quiet as Nebula piloted the craft from Titan to Terra; a.k.a. the Earth.

A collision against the hull of the craft made Tony jump, his nerves still exposed after such a gruesome final battle. Sitting upright slowly he looked toward the cockpit and peered through the windshield as Nebula navigated what looked like an asteroid field.

"What's going on?" Tony asked as he slowly rose from the table and hobbled up to the cockpit. "How far from Earth are we?"

"It's a debris field." Nebula's metallic voice replied blankly as she slowed the craft's speed and piloted expertly between the massive pieces of metal. "We're four jumps from Terra. We'll be there in an hour."

"Debris field?" Tony didn't acknowledge the other facts Nebula stated. "What kind of debris field is floating out in the middle of space?"

"The kind of debris field that's left in the wake of combat."

"Combat." Tony's eyes darkened as he looked down at the floor. "This is the remains of destroyed ship."

"Yes." Nebula confirmed. "There was a distress signal coming from these coordinates. One ship arrived, I don't know how many survived."

"Can you check for other survivors?"

Nebula froze and turned her gaze slowly toward Tony. "Yes. But doing so would be a waste of time."

"Please?" Tony asked softly. "I know the odds are astronomically low of actually finding someone alive but after seeing..." He paused as a mournful sob temporarily stole away his voice. Choking back his grief he tried again. "I just need to know."

Sensing the dread in Tony's voice and understanding all too well the pain of losing loved ones to Thanos' cruelty, Nebula willing obliged. "Very well. Beginning scan now."

On the control panel of the craft a radar like screen glowed to life with a pale blue light as the system began checking for any nearby signs of living organisms in the vicinity. The display was blank and deafeningly quiet as Tony stared with great intent waiting, hoping, for any sign of life in the otherwise death filled vacuum of the space the surrounded him.

"Damn." Tony grumbled and held his hand against his still bloodied abdomen as a twinge of pain began to gnaw at his side. "We're too late."

"Seems to be a pattern with us." Nebula quietly commented to herself. She noticed Tony wincing in pain and knew he was wounded more severely than he'd ever admit. "You should lay down. If you start bleeding again I won't be able to help you."

Nodding in agreement Tony lifted his eyes away from the radar and out through the windshield to the endless stars that lay beyond the debris. "Guess I shouldn't be shock that-" A 'blip' sound on the radar caught his and Nebula's attention as a small dark blue dot appeared on the display. "What's that?"

"Someone is alive." Nebula stated with disbelief in her tone. "But it's faint."

"Faint because of the distance?"

"Faint because whoever is out there is dying."

"Can you find them?"

"Yes." Nebula confirmed. "Sit down." She motioned with her eyes to the vacant seat beside her. "We need to move quickly."

Unwilling to take a chance Tony sat down in the seat as instructed and watched silently as Nebula honed in on the signal. Maneuvering through the spinning, drifting masses of metal the craft discovered a small escape pod trapped amongst the debris with a lone occupant inside. Concealed behind a mass of what was once a ship's hull the pod had remained completely hidden from anyone who had not turned on a scanner seeking life forms.

"There." Nebula focused on the small pod. "One person is still alive."

"How do we bring them onboard?"

"We don't. I do." Was the curt reply from the cynical cybernetic woman as she rose from her seat and walked to the rear of the craft. "Stay here and do not touch anything."

"You do realize when you tell someone to not touch something that only makes that someone want to touch something more than anything else, right?"

"Do. Not. Touch." Nebula threatened as she glared angrily over her shoulder toward Tony. Her hollow black eyes staring deeply into his soul from where she stood.

Tony swallowed nervously. "Yes, ma'am."

Nebula pressed a button on the control panel on the wall and a the door to a small compartment opened. Stepping into the compartment she slipped rebreather over her face and took a second one, clipping it to her belt as she secured a line connecting her to the ship itself to her belt alongside it. Pressing a second button the door on the opposite wall of the compartment opened giving her access to free space.

Tony watched through the windshield as Nebula drifted from the ship and through the debris field. Nebula located the pod and pushed aside the surrounding debris that otherwise obstructed the pod and pulled open the door to the pod with a single pull with her enhanced strength from her artificial arm.

Inside the pod was a male figure, slumped over and unconscious in his seat. Unclipping the rebreather from her belt she slipped it over the man's face. Nebula grabbed onto the man's arm and pulled him from the pod and out into space alongside her.

Using the line that connected her to her ship Nebula pulled her way back through the debris field and to her ship with the man in tow.

"That's one..." Tony mumbled to himself as he watched Nebula return to the ship with the survivor. Getting back to his feet Tony walked to the rear of the craft ready to aid the wounded man. "One more than I thought we'd find, anyway."

Nebula opened the compartment door and stepped through with the unconscious man at her side. She slipped off her rebreather and did the same for him as Tony stumbled over awkwardly and did his best to support the other man's weight despite his own injury.

"Lay him down." Nebula ordered as she guided the man over to the table where Tony had been laying one a few moments before. "We have to leave the debris field before we get struck or one of Thanos' thugs fund us."

"Yeah, good idea." Tony agreed as he put his hand down under the man's head and guided him down over the table. "I'll take care of our new friend."

Nebula returned to the cockpit and piloted the ship away from the debris field and continued their journey back to Earth.

Tony stared at the man quizzically as he tried to determine the depth of the man's wounds.

The man in question appeared very humanoid, almost as if he were from the Earth itself. Dark complexion, black hair with a goatee to match, broadly built and covered in leather and gold plated armor the man was most certainly a warrior.

"Okay pal," Tony put his hand down on the man's chest lightly. "what's your story."

As if he could hear Tony speaking the man's eyes slowly opened revealing the amber hued irises beneath. "...Stark." His voice was hoarse and struggled to find its volume as to be heard.

"Pardon?" Tony would've jumped back if he had the strength to do so. "Have we met?"

Nebula heard the alarm in Tony's voice and turned to look at her two passengers. "What is wrong?"

"Nothing." Tony calmed himself quickly as he turned to look at Nebula in the cockpit. "He's awake. And I wasn't expecting that."

Weakly the man raised a hand to regain Tony's attention. "Stark. What has happened?"

"First thing's first, how do you know my name?" Tony asked in a hushed tone as he took a step closer to the table and intentionally positioned himself in such a way that Nebula couldn't see the men talking, and hopefully couldn't hear them either.

"Thor." The man replied. "He is... a friend."

"You know the blond hammerhead?"

"Yes. I am..." The man sat up weakly on the table and held a hand to his neck as if he were in pain. "Heimdall."

"Heimdall. The guardian and gatekeeper of the Bi-Frost."

"Yes. You know of me?"

"Thor told us a few things about Asgard." Tony replied with relief in his voice as he studied the oddly colored eyes with an unspoken curiosity. "And I've been brushing up on my Norse Mythology. Good to have a mutual friend in common."

"Do you know where... Thor is?"

"No..." Tony's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I thought you could see anything and anyone at anytime."

"My sight is limited." Heimdall replied quickly. "And my power is weak."

"Thanos?"

Heimdall looked up, the sudden motion jostled his neck and caused him to flinch in pain. "You've encountered him."

"Yeah." Tony confirmed as he subconsciously pressed his hand back to his wounded abdomen. "And he's... He's succeeded."

"No."

"We..." Motioning toward Nebula with one hand he let out a weary sigh. "We're the only ones who survived the fight. At least... the only ones we know."

"Thanos... He has all six Infinity Stones."

"Yes. We almost-" Tony suddenly paled and his body trembled in great pain. Using one arm to support his abdomen and the other hand to support his crumbling weight against the wall he began to succumb to his weakened condition.

"Stark?" Heimdall stood up slowly and tentatively put a hand to Tony's shoulder.

Nebula had been eavesdropping on the conversation. As soon as she heard the worry in Heimdall's voice she turned to look back and saw that her only ally was falling to the floor in a pool of his own blood.

"His wound has reopened." Nebula informed Heimdall with authority in her tone. "Apply pressure. There is a medical kit on the wall above you."

Though his movements were slow and clumsy Heimdall managed to pull Tony up from the floor and place him down on the table. Reaching up for the metal box containing the medical kit he groaned in pain himself as the weight of the kit strain his neck and shoulders in an awkward manner.

Tony watched Heimdall pushing through his own discomfort and forced a weak smile to his face. "I take it you didn't fare much better when it comes to Thanos."

"You have no idea." Heimdall responded as he placed the kit on the floor, took a knee beside it and began rummaging through the items contained within. Eyeing the blood stain on Tony's hooded shirt Heimdall carefully took a grip on the hem at the bottom of the garment and peeled the sticky fabric up and away from the injury sight. "Stab wound."

Nebula's voice lowered. "Thanos." She practically spat her father's name as she named the source of the devastating injury.

Tony began to suck in breath through his gritted teeth as the pain was nearly unbearable for the very mortal and dying man. Hands trembling and caked in his drying, sticky blood Tony pressed his palms down against the wound and forced himself to keep the pressure as even the lightest of touches was enough to cause a searing wave of agony to wash over his entire being.

"Can you do anything to aid him?" Nebula questioned as she focused her attention on getting their ship to Earth as quickly as possible.

Heimdall stared with a sickened grimace at the horrific injury. "I can try. My knowledge of medicine is limited without any herbs. Asgardian healers tended to most injuries on our behalf."

Tony opened his eyes allowing a single tear to roll down his cheek. "J-Just do what... you can."

"Very well." Heimdall agreed as he pulled a large white bandage from the kit. Using a controlled but firm pressure he lifted Tony's hand away from the wound and pressed the bandage down onto his bloodied skin before replacing Tony's hand down over top of it. "Hold it there, it should stem the bleeding."

Tony's pale face told another story. A fresh trickle of blood rolled from the corner of his mouth and ran down to his neck.

"Stark?" Heimdall moved his up to Tony's chest and pressed his palm down, resting just below the glowing arc reactor in the center of his chest. He could feel Tony's heart beating quickly against his palm and the slow rising and falling of his breaths moving his chest.

A puddle of blood began to pool under Tony's back and spill out over the edge of the table and onto the floor.

Heimdall stood upright in shock and stared at the crimson staining everything it touched under a macabre layer of lost blood.

"Stark. Roll onto your right side." Heimdall ordered. Placing one hand against Tony's left shoulder and the other on Tony's left hip he forced the incredibly weak engineer change position and lay in a limp heap on his right side. It was then Heimdall could see the second wound in his back courtesy of the single stab inflicted by Thanos. "Damn it. The blade has cut clean through to his back."

Nebula turned and watched as Heimdall placed a second white bandage against the second wound. Both bandages had all but instantly turned from white to red as they absorbed the vast amount of escaping blood, but they did very little to slow the flow as it escape his body.

"If we do not hurry he will bleed to death." Heimdall stated with a heavy amount of empathy in his voice.

"We are already traveling as fast as possible." Nebula snipped impatiently. "I'm doing everything that I can. How about you?"

Heimdall gave Tony a pensive look before making a decision. While his knowledge of medicine was indeed very limited he did have skill in another field that could save Tony's life. But to do so would risk his own life in more than one way.

"Stark," Heimdall lowered his voice as he took in a deep breath. "I need you to close your eyes."

Tony blinked slowly a few times, his soulful brown eyes glazed over and full of pain.

"Please, Stark, I need you to trust me. Close your eyes."

Tony frailly turned his head just enough to look up at Heimdall before letting out a heavy breath and closing his eyes.

Heimdall pressed his hands to the two wounds and steeled himself mentally. A pulse of green energy began to form in the center of his palms and slowly encompassed the two gaping wounds filling Tony's dying form with renewed vitality.

As the energy filled Heimdall's hands his amber hued eyes suddenly shifted from a gilded color to that of a shiny green.

Nebula, who had been discreetly watching the two occupants over her shoulder, immediately recognized the eyes of Heimdall and with that recognition she drew her sword from its sheath on her thigh, holding it in a tight grip ready to strike.

Tony's breathing steadied and the blood flow began to stem as the energy that entered his body caused his the damaged tissue, blood vessels and internal organs to heal rapidly.

Feeling stronger Tony's eyes opened and he looked up to see Heimdall's amber eyes had changed to green and that the man himself was obviously struggling to deliver the healing power from his body and into Tony's body.

"Are you..." Tony tried to speak but his words distracted Heimdall and the energy in his palms faded away into nothingness.

Heimdall tried to reply but a sudden cold pressure against his throat silenced him immediately. Freezing in place and tilting his head slightly upward and back away from the pressure, his eyes shifting to focus on the blue face of Nebula who was now standing right beside him with her drawn weapon against his neck.

"Whoa, whoa!" Tony tried but failed to sit up and calm the situation as Nebula pressed the dangerously sharp edge of her sword's blade against Heimdall's throat. "What're you doing?!"

Nebula's cold eyes stared dubiously at Heimdall's face. "This is NOT Heimdall." She accused in a voice as cold as her eyes. "Reveal yourself. Son of Odin."

"Son of..." Tony repeated quietly as his eyes widened.

Heimdall raised his hand as if to surrender before allowing the illusion to fade away from his body revealing his true self.

Loki.

The smears of dried blood along his lips and nose stained his already pale skin a disturbing shade of red. Bruises along his neck and face emphasized his pale pallor further.

"L-Loki...?" Tony almost whispered the name as a mixture of dread, relief and confusion washed over him.

Nebula kept her sword to Loki's throat.

"Yes." Loki admitted, his familiar voice just as hoarse as when he assumed the form of Heimdall. "Thor and I-"

Nebula pressed the blade deeper against Loki's throat. "Be silent."

"Wait a moment." Tony defended with a cautious demeanor. From where he was laying he could see the deep, dark black and purple bruises that wrapped around Loki's throat. He recognized the shape of the bruises as that of a hand that had clutched around his neck and squeezed with a tremendous force that by all accounts should've killed him. "Look," he pointed with a trembling hand at Loki's throat. "he's been injured."

Nebula stared at the bruises before sharply offering a bitter rebuttal. "False. It's an illusion to gain fake sympathy."

"Not an illusion." Loki hoarsely replied while keeping his hands up in the surrender posture.

"He's right." Tony agreed as he forced himself to finally sit upright on the table. "When he came onboard he was trying to hide his injury."

"What are you talking about?" Nebula demanded harshly as she stared with pure hatred at Loki.

"His neck. He was holding his neck and even when disguised as Heimdall his voice was audibly damaged." Tony explained his reasoning logically and smoothly. "Why would he fake an injury before needing to actually fake it? No one's that committed to a lie. Trust me, I'm an expert on these kinds of situations."

"Please." Loki asked collectedly as he remained as still as possible. "Thanos is my enemy as much as he is yours."

"Nebula." Tony addressed her evenly. "Lower your sword."

With one finally utterance of an irritated grunt Nebula dropped her weapon and sheathed the sword once again. "Do not think yourself superior Asgardian." She warned angrily. "You sided with Thanos once before."

"I did not _side_ with Thanos." Loki negated with a stern glare as he let hands steadily drop to his sides. "I was 'recruited' against my will."

Nebula didn't believe him. "You accepted the scepter, the Mind Stone. You willingly led those barbaric Chitauri against a peaceful planet, killed thousands of innocent people and attempted to steal the Space Stone."

"And I must live with the repercussions of my foolishness for as long as I still draw breath." Lowering his eyes to the floor, to the puddle of blood at his feet. "I cannot undo what has been done, but I can atone for my errors. I must aid my brother in defeating Thanos and destroying the Infinity Stones." Tears welled in Loki's eyes as he spoke. "That is... if my brother survived the onslaught."

"Onslaught?" Tony questioned despondently. "Is that was Bruce meant when he said... Thor is gone?"

"Gone?" Loki choked on a sob as his body went numb. Slowly his face paled and all but fell onto the table beside Tony. "Thor..."

Nebula took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest as she watched Loki's mind slip into a state of deep mourning.

"Loki," Tony spoke up as he studied the god's face. "what happened to you? What did Thanos do to you?"

"Thanos... The irredeemable tyrant." Loki gritted his teeth as he tried to quell a deep anger and shame. "After I had fallen from Asgard I wandered the cosmos in search of a new home. Thanos and his 'children' found me, recognized my name and thus my reputation. Threatening my life and the lives of all those who lived on Asgard with unparalleled suffering I had little choice but to accept my role in Thanos' army."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Tony asked as he pressed his hand against his healing wound. "I'm sure Thor would've helped you."

"I was angry when I last saw Thor, and the influence of the Mind Stone had been used against me before I took the scepter. I could only regain a modicum of my own sense of freewill during my time on Midgard."

"Freewill..." Tony thought back to the Chitauri invasion. "You let Nat know about your plans with the Hulk and you built in the failsafe on the Tesseract's portal." He smiled a little at the idea of Loki finding a small way to rebel against Thanos. "You sabotaged the plan and brought us all together as a team."

"The latter of which was not something I had any foresight into." Loki admitted. "However I am glad that my brother found allies on Midgard."

Tony pointed to the bruises on Loki's neck. "How did you... survive?"

"When Thanos boarded our ship we were on our way to Midgard. Asgard has been... destroyed."

"By Thanos?"

"No. Ragnarok."

"What's... know what? Later. What happened on your way to Earth?"

"Thanos tracked us down using the energy reading being emitted by the Tesseract."

"Why was the Tesseract on your ship?"

Loki slouched with guilt as he told the story. "Before Asgard was destroyed I retrieved the Tesseract from Odin's vault. If I had known that what was going to transpire during our escape I would've let the cursed stone burn with the rest of Asgard."

"And Thanos killed everyone in order to get you to turn over the stone." Tony pieced together the rest of the story himself.

"No. Thanos killed everyone onboard simply because he wanted to. Whether or not our allies managed to escape the ship unharmed I cannot be certain. But Thanos, he had taken the Power Stone from Xandar; tearing the peaceful world to shred without any remorse or hesitation. It was through that power he threatened Thor's life. I tried to bluff the fiend but I failed. I offered the Tesseract in exchange for Thor's life. And now... All is lost because of my foolishness."

Nebula just stared with pure hatred at Loki, yet something behind her black eyes seemed to show twinge of sympathy.

"Loki, I lost a friend who did the same exact thing to spare my life. I had only met him but he was willing to give up the Time Stone if Thanos spared me." He removed his hand from his wound and stared at his bloodied palm. "I was as good as dead already, and yet... He couldn't just let Thanos kill me."

"One life against that of the entire universe." Loki lamented pitifully. "Are we really so shortsighted and afraid to lose those close to us that we'd be willing to risk trillions of other lives for our own selfish needs?"

Tony smirked a little. "Honestly, I think so. I know if Pepper's life was on the line I'd give everything I'd have to just to keep alive for a little longer. No one's perfect."

"Which is why Thanos is on his crusade to cleanse the universe. Had I not banked our triumph over Thanos on Bruce alone then perhaps I would've made a better decision."

"Wait, what?"

"Thanos was holding Thor as his hostage. As I surrendered the Tesseract I pushed Thor out of harm's way while the Hulk attempted to eliminate Thanos. With that window of opportunity I... I had concealed myself in the escape pod and used an illusion to distract Thanos from Thor."

"You hid away?"

"Like a coward." Loki confessed with a lingering self hatred in his words. "My illusion was enough to convince Thanos that I was still on the bridge, and through this illusion I again attempted to bluff Thanos into allowing me passage to Midgard so I could warn you of Thanos and his army. But he refused to allow it, determining my failure of the invasion as evidence of my incompetence as a leader."

"An illusion? But... You're neck..."

"I had to muster a great deal of magic to allow my illusion to posses a physical form. I tried to allude to Thor of my deception, tried to tell him that while it would appear as though I had suffered my own demise at the hands of Thanos, I would indeed survive." Pulling his collar away to fully reveal the bruises he tentatively touched his sore throat with his two forefingers. "The price of such a convincing illusion resulted feeling every ounce of pain Thanos inflicted upon it. I could feel my throat being crushed, the sound of my neck breaking and Thor's pain as my body crashed to the floor beside him."

"And... And Bruce?"

"Heimdall, the real Heimdall, used the last of his power to send Bruce away from the ship. To where he went, I cannot say."

"Earth." Tony confirmed. "Bruce did in fact make it back to Earth and he warned us about Thanos. Obviously... we didn't do enough to stop him."

Nebula's posture relaxed a little as she gauged the sincere regret and pain that the two men were expressing. While she had lost her sister, Gamora, to Thanos in exchange for the Soul Stone, she hadn't anticipated the loss others would feel as Thanos sought the other Infinity Stones.

"We should be nearing Terra." Nebula stated flatly as she walked away and returned to the cockpit. "Do not let your guard down."

Tony whispered to Loki as to not disturb their pilot. "She seems to know you. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"She is.. the daughter of Thanos." Loki confirmed as discreetly as possible to spare Nebula's dignity. "As you can see his standards for perfection do not show lenience to anyone, including his own children." Loki folded his hands together in contemplation. "I understand her anger, but I can only begin to fathom her pain."

"Her cybernetic implants... Those were all from Thanos?"

Loki only nodded. "As you can see his cruelty knows no bounds. To him life is fleeting and those who do not live up to his standards do not deserve to live."

"From what Nebula told me about Thanos retrieving the Soul Stone, you couldn't be more right."

"The Soul Stone." Loki closed his eyes as the horror set in. "A soul for a soul. And Thanos delivered. And what are we to do against such a tyrant?" Loki asked as he felt lost for the first time in his life. Unsure of what to do or even where to go he chose to remain with Tony and Nebula until he could make a decision.

"We're going to return to Earth, reunite with anyone and everyone who's willing to fight back and we're going to make Thanos pay."

Loki turned and looked at the fire burning in Tony's eyes. Giving the Avenger a weak smile he straightened his posture and nodded. "When do we start?"

_**-The End** _

**Author's Note:**

> My theory as to how Loki could've possibly survived his encounter with Thanos and how he would unite with the Avengers.


End file.
